Making Rye Bread

For a first attempt at rye bread making, we chose the recipe from King Arthur Flour for "Classic Rye Sandwich Bread".

It calls for:

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups (159g) medium rye flour
• 1 3/4 cups (210g) King Arthur Unbleached Bread Flour
• 1 teaspoon (6g) salt
• 2 teaspoons caraway seeds - optional
• 1 tablespoon minced dried onions - optional
• 2 teaspoons instant yeast
• 1 cup (227g) water, lukewarm (105°F to 115°F)
• 1 tablespoon (22g) molasses or honey
• 1 1/2 tablespoons (22g) unsalted butter, melted

We are not fond of the crunch of seeds in our bread, so I omitted that, and since we had no dried onions, we omitted that, too.  I used dark molasses for the sweetener.

It appears that this should have proofed longer.  It is heavy and dense.

Notice there was no "oven spring".

It reminds us of those little square rye breads that were so popular in the 50s and 60s for hors d'œuvres.

If that's what you're thinking of, it was very good.

However it had no rye flavor.

I think it was definitely missing the caraway seeds.

~

Second Attempt

Using the same recipe, I made some changes.

I made a preferment the night before with 50 grams water and 50 grams rye and a bit of yeast.

A while ago, we got a new coffee grinder, so the old one became a spice grinder.  I ground up some caraway seeds and added two teaspoons of caraway seeds which I had ground up, giving it the flavor but less of the crunch of seeds.

That was left, covered, to rest overnight.  

What is a preferment, you might ask?  

Here's what Bon Appetit says:

What is a preferment?

Unlike a “straight dough,” in which all of the ingredients for the final dough are combined at once, bread made with a preferment is mixed in two stages: A small portion of the dough is prepared in advance—usually 6–16 hours—and allowed to ferment; then, once it’s bubbly and full of yeast, acid, and bacteria, it’s incorporated with the remaining ingredients—flour, water, salt, and, sometimes, more yeast. The dough then has its bulk rise, where it grows in a bowl or container, before it’s shaped (into buns, breadsticks, loaves, what have you) and left to proof once more.

I had to laugh.  In looking this up, 

I realized that it is not a very French "pray-fair-mahnt".  

It's a pre-ferment.   Funny!

When the preferment was combined with the rest of the ingredients, it made a very sticky dough.

I knead using the stand mixer, and this got a 10 minute rest, 10 minute kneading, 10 minute rest, and again a 10 minute kneading.  (The Cuisinart stand mixer has been a workhorse. I bought the first one in 2009, at a time when Kitchen Aid had changed to plastic gears and was getting poor reviews.  I bought another one in 2017 when we were living in two houses, and I needed one in each.  So now I have the one in the kitchen and a back-up for just in case.  Makes me feel very secure!)

I also added a tablespoon of cider vinegar to the dough, since the first recipe wasn't as tangy as expected.

After the first rise, it was shaped and put into the pan:

Looks like this may have been over-proofed.  We'll see.

"

It did collapse a bit in the oven.

It is really delicious.  Light, tangy, full of caraway flavor without the crunch.

It is more the texture of a sandwich bread.

It also has a tender crust.

It does not have the rubbery texture of deli bread though.

But since it was really delicious, we may just buy deli bread if we want rubbery.

R suggested using Nina-in-the-Kitchen recipe.  I did a quick spreadsheet, and they are virtually identical.  Check out Nina if you prefer to see a video.

Now, here's something interesting:

The addition of caraway seeds to rye bread is to counter the bloating that can be caused by the high fiber content of rye. Caraway has well-known anti-flatulence properties; however, the association is so long-standing that the flavor combination is now almost inseparable.

Hmmmmm

Hermès Scarf - Couronnes (Crowns)

 This lovely Hermès scarf, Couronnes,  was designed by Julia Abadie in 1969.

Alas, this scarf arrived with a lot of dirt, some stains, and an overpowering perfume smell.  This was another opportunity to test whether silk could be laundered, and the photo below shows it drying after being hand washed.

The crown with the dolphins (and it's in a single arch) is the son of the king.  Dauphin is the French word for dolphin.  The Dauphin is the eldest son of the king of France.

If a crown is arched or closed at the top, it's the monarch. 

The variety of crowns is interesting.  I had no luck identifying the source of the crowns, but I did learn lost of fascinating  information.  The balls are called "pearls", but they are silver balls.   

Julie Abadie designed several scarves for Hermès, including Cliquetis.

I have blogged the faking of scarves in my Cliquetis post.

As always, the heavy silk, even on a well used and freshly laundered scarf, drapes well.

A seller online included this:

• Please be mindful that this piece has led a previous life, and may tell its story through minor imperfection. Purchasing this item continues its narrative, so you can be confident that you’re making a POSITIVELY CONSCIOUS choice for the planet.

Awwwww.

To see the other Hermès scarves I have blogged, click here.

March Flowers 2021

2021

March Flowers - finally - we were getting desperate!

This has been a long winter - with Covid 19 limiting our social access, 

and with the weather limiting our outdoor experiences, it has been a long winter. . . 

The first flowers to appear are the snowdrops.

Snowdrops are followed by crocus.

The rabbits have clearly been enjoying these.  They ate the tops of the leaves that emerge before the buds.

Speaking of rabbits, they enjoyed their own personal tulip salad bar.  They ate the growing tops of almost every tulip in the garden.

We are pretty sure it's rabbits - they left some poop when they ate the crocus tops.   Deer like tulips, too, but they usually eat one here and there.  This garden had been almost all eaten.

D immediately went to buy fencing to enclose the gardens that had edibles.

One garden fenced and time for a well deserved break!

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Gwendolyn sent a lovely picture of her white and lavender violets, so I had to wander out to see if we had any.  It is early for us, but I was delighted to find:

These lavender and white crocus were planted by previous owners.  

"Some flies are bee mimics. They can be distinguished from bees by their single pair of wings, and their notably bulging eyes and short antennae. Flies do not actively collect pollen, and lack pollen collecting hairs. They will visit flowers to drink nectar, though, and may thus act as pollinators. While some plant species have evolved to rely on flies for pollination, most plants are better pollinated by bees." https://energy.wisc.edu/bee-guide/WI-Spring-Bee-Guide.pdf

We think this is not a bee.

We keep hoping for early daffodils, but this is all we have on March 21.

Some of the daffodil heads are up.  The brownish plant on the bottom right (around 4 o'clock) is fritillaria, crown imperial.  

March sky is always interesting.

`

And the last bit of good news for March, 2021, is we have a daffodil blooming!

YAY!!!!

And for April Fools Day, tomorrow,

we are expecting 4-6 inches of snow!

To see 2020 garden pics:

Second half of September

September 1st half.

Second half of August

First half of August.

2nd half of July.

First half of July garden.

Garden at the End of June

And the first half of June is here.

You can see the end of May, 2020, here.

Here is the first week of May

Daffodils 2020

The middle of April is here.

First week of April.

Unwanted Milk - What to do. . . ?

As we unpacked the Instacart grocery order, we noticed the Instacart shopper left a half-gallon of 2% milk with my order.  We had not ordered milk.  I hope another customer is not missing their milk!  Instacart said we did not need to return it.  We think life is too short to leave out the fat, so now what can I do with low fat milk?

A quick google search suggested cottage cheese or ricotta.  That's something we have never made, even when we had lots of fresh farm milk, but we have the luxury of free time now that we did not have then.

The directions are pretty simple.

Put the milk into a heavy pan.  I used my All Clad pan with the helper handle (what a great invention that is!).

Heat the 2 quarts of milk to 190ºF.

Add 1/3 cup vinegar.  

Let it sit for 30 minutes.

It immediately begins separating into curds and whey.  I feel like Miss Muffet.

Strain into a cheesecloth lined colander.

Let it rest for 30 minutes, then squeeze if necessary.  

Chill it, then add heavy cream and salt.

Eat.

~ ! ~ ! ~ 

Next is what to do with the whey.  The cottage cheese was 2 cups, and there were 6 cups of whey.  We don't have pigs or chickens.  Once again, google to the rescue.

I found a recipe for bread.

I used:

• 400 g whey (2 cups)
• 600 g bread flour
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt

After the first rise I was hungry, so a pinched off a piece to make fry bread to eat while the rest of the dough was rising in the loaf pan.

It was delicious.  A great mid-afternoon snack!

I decided to shape the dough for a standard white-bread sandwich loaf.  I put it in my USA Pan loaf pan. (I do like this company!  I also have two of their muffin tins and one mini-muffin tin.  So far, nothing has stuck, and I do not grease the pans or use muffin papers.)

It has a fairly dense, heavy crumb.  It made delicious grilled cheese sandwiches.  

I have enough whey in the freezer for two more loaves!

Or I may try to find another recipe.

This bread was good, but we still like the challah recipe best.

Grandkids Swing

 Grandpa thought every kid needs a swing, so in 2006 he put this swing in one of the maple trees along the driveway.   Frank enjoyed it:

But he needed to be pushed.

Grandpa rigged up a rope so that Frank could push himself.

Whoops - pulled too hard!

Now it's Grandpa's turn.

Peri found different ways to use the swing:

A fine time was had by all.

In case you were wondering, 

I am going through 

old photos. . .